"If things get really bad for Berlusconi, the only person that he will really trust is a member of his family," Roberto D'Alimonte, a political analyst at Luiss University in Rome, said in an interview in 2011.

"Of his five children, she is the only one with the guts to do the job. She has the same determination as her father. She may not have his ability to communicate to people, but that can be developed.

"The fact that she is not even an MP is not a problem – you don't have to be an elected official to become the prime minister of Italy. The party would accept her because it's a creature of Berlusconi."

Italian media have also vociferated that former PM Berlusconi's 29-year-old daughter Barbara is willing to take up a political career too.

The former premier, due to begin community service at a home catering for people with Alzheimer's disease following tax fraud charges, has not yet named a political successor.

Berlusconi is not allowed to leave the Lombardy region, with the exception of limited visits to Rome. Judges may impose house arrest.

The media mogul is also banned from holding public office, but he is allowed to take part in campaigning for European parliamentary elections next month.

He has conducted a series of television interviews in which he has attacked targets ranging from the judges who convicted him to President Giorgio Napolitano and his well-known counterpart Beppe Grillo.